July 18, 2014 12:57pm EDTJuly 14, 2014 11:51am EDTWhen veteran Morgan Shepherd wrecked Joey Logano at New Hampshire, it raised a key question: Should Shepherd still be racing at age 72? The best and worst moves from Sunday's race.Joey Logano and Morgan Shepherd wreck(AP Photo)

Morgan Shepherd sliding into Joey Logano. Accidents happen, but the incident immediately turned into an age issue for Shepherd, who was making only his second start of the season at age 72 and was at least 10 laps down when he and Logano wrecked. A 42-year-old driver or a 22-year-old driver could make the same mistake, but a much older driver — especially one racing at age 72 — faces much more scrutiny when mistakes happen.

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Now Shepherd, a well-liked driver, has to defend his ability to race and whether or not he should still be driving at his age. And NASCAR must defend its rules that allow him to race. The unfortunate accident pushed back into the spotlight an issue that will continue to be raised until Shepherd retires.

“Accidents happen, and this didn't happen because I'm 72 years old,” Shepherd told Sirius/XM Radio. “The average 72-year-old guy couldn’t make a lap in these cars."

Here’s a look at the other best and worst moves at New Hampshire:

Best move

Team Penske and Joe Gibbs Racing not blowing a test at New Hampshire. While Hendrick Motorsports used up one of its test at New Hampshire and had mixed results, the Penske and Gibbs teams appear to know what they’re doing there and now can save their tests for other Chase tracks, especially the pivotal 1.5-milers. Penske's Keselowski won the race, while Busch finished second, Matt Kenseth fourth and Hamlin eighth for Gibbs. Hendrick's best finishes were 10th by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and 11th by Kasey Kahne. Hendrick's Jimmie Johnson blew a tire and finished 42nd, while Jeff Gordon led late but ran out of fuel.

Second-best move

Kyle Busch finished second two consecutive days to Brad Keselowski at New Hampshire. And in both events, Busch had nothing for Keselowski at the end.

Busch’s second-place finish Sunday in the Sprint Cup Camping World RV Sales 301 was as much about strategy as it was car. He stretched his fuel to 89 laps on the final run with the help of nine yellow-flag laps.

Busch, who already has a win this year, and crew chief Dave Rogers decided to roll the dice.

“I never really know how close we are, so that's probably a good thing being a little bit dumb and not knowing,” Busch said. “So Dave asked me, he goes, ‘Man, we're close, what do you want to do here? Do you want to gamble and stay out?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, hell, might as well.’”

He didn’t run out. Several drivers, such as his teammate Denny Hamlin, had to pit for fuel during the final caution period. Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick ran out of gas on the track.

Worst move

What we want to see again

Jeff Burton race. The popular veteran, who has 21 career victories, hinted that the New Hampshire event might have been the last race of his career before he moves on to NBC and a broadcast career. He doesn’t have any additional races scheduled, but Burton should be able to go out with a more formal retirement celebration. One with gifts and hugs and the honor he deserves. Someone should give him a ride for Martinsville in October.

What we don’t want to see again

Another network have a six-race package. TNT had its final race of the season Sunday before ESPN’s 17 races to the finish. Both TNT and ESPN are gone next year with Fox/FS1 getting the first 16 points races (plus the Sprint Unlimited, Daytona 500 qualifying races and all-star race) and NBC/NBCSN getting the final 20 points races. That’s the way it should be. A broadcaster and network can’t find a rhythm in six races and there’s little incentive to have a great product for just six events a year.

Last word

“I can drive the heck out of a car, but you can only do so much. You've got to have a good horse, and we had that today. I'm just really, really thankful and happy with the form we have.” — Brad Keselowski